The Cry Baby Killer (Back-to-Back Jack Edition)
by Mel Welles, Charles B. Griffith, Jus Addiss, Roger Corman
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Harry Lauter, Jack Nicholson, Jackie Joseph, Jonathan Haze, Mel WellesDirector: Charles B. Griffith, Jus Addiss, Mel Welles, Roger Corman
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Writer: Charles B. Griffith
Producer: David Kramarsky
Writer: Leo Gordon
Writer: Melvin Levy
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Subtitled)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 61 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-11-21
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Hollywood Pictures
Movie Reviews of The Cry Baby Killer (Back-to-Back Jack Edition)
Movie Review: Amazon Video on Demand
Summary: 5 Stars
Due to some level of confusion, this Video on Demand is being associated with reviews for an entirely different product being released by Buena Vista Home Video. Well, let me attempt to clear up some of the confusion. Firstly, this VOD is not the same version that appears on the Roger Corman Collection DVD edition of "The Cry Baby Killer".
When THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS was originally released, Corman did not see financial prospect in the film after its initial release. As a result, he did not renew the film's copyright, and it fell into the public domain. This became a source of conflict, as the film had gained a strong cult following by the 1980s. In response to a brief popularity of titles that had been converted from black and white to color, Corman authorized a colorized version of LITTLE SHOP, and this became the only version of the film that he actually had any legal entitlement to.
The years passed, and colorization faded, largely because the technology of the 1980s was quite poor. As colorization techniques improved, a few companies decided to give the process another go in the early 2000s. These new colorizations were highly praised, so many films that had previously been colorized poorly in the 1980s have been colorized again with better results. The company Legend Films released a new version of LITTLE SHOP, seen here, which had been colorized in high-definition. As this version was gaining momentum, Corman decided to dust off his colorized version and release it as a bonus feature on the DVD The Cry Baby Killer (Back-to-Back Jack Edition). Corman did not include a black and white version of the film, because he owned the 1980s colorized version, and he didn't feel the need to include something that people had already seen.
By all accounts, the version of the film available from Amazon Video on Demand is better than the version released by Corman and Buena Vista in every way. Firstly, the picture quality of the Legend VOD is far superior than Buena Vista's, and the colorization is strikingly realistic, as opposed to looking like an altered black and white film. One look at the excerpt, and you can tell that the VOD is NOT the version contained on the Buena Vista/Corman CRY BABY KILLER DVD.
The fact that the VOD is being associated with the reviews for the CRY BABY KILLER DVD is not the only mistake. For example, the VOD is listed as The Little Shop Of Horrors (Rifftrax Version), suggesting that it contains a commentary by Michael J. Nelson, presumably the updated version that was recently released on Nelson's RiffTrax website, when, in fact, the VOD that is currently being labeled as being "RiffTrax version" does not contain a "riff track". It is the film only. Confusingly, the VOD for the version containing Nelson's commentary is listed as being simply Little Shop Of Horrors.
Amazon has long been the source of confusion for many buyers, particularly in its VOD and MP3 download services, but hopefully I have cleared things up for anyone who is scratching their heads over this. As for The Cry Baby Killer (Back-to-Back Jack Edition), I have to say to those who have reviewed this DVD negatively, that it is not an edition of THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, and that reviews should focus on the merits of THE CRY BABY KILLER. Those that seek a special edition of LITTLE SHOP should stick with The Little Shop of Horrors - In COLOR! Also Includes the Original Black-and-White Version which has been Beautifully Restored and Enhanced!
Summary of The Cry Baby Killer (Back-to-Back Jack Edition)
THE CRY BABY KILLER: Don't miss a young Jack Nicholson, one of Hollywood's most enduring and celebrated icons, as he makes his screen debut starring in this Roger Corman classic. Seventeen-year-old Jimmy Wallace (Nicholson) is a jilted teen with a big chip on his shoulder. In a brawl over a girl, Jimmy grabs for a gun, shoots and panics, thinking he's killed one of the punks. Jimmy accidentally involves three hostages, who include a mom and her baby, by ducking into a storeroom. Despite the best efforts of the police, Jimmy is too scared to surrender. A media circus develops, adding more pressure to a wild standoff. THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS: Enjoy back-to-back Jack with this chilling cult classic, THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. Shot in just two days, this beat-era favorite packs plenty of inspired lunacy. Seymour, the inept assistant florist, saves his job by nurturing a man-eating plant to health and drawing customers - and more than a little blood. As the chorus of "Feed me, FEED me!" coming from the talking plant reaches a crescendo, Seymour is forced to find more victims. Jack Nicholson's breakout moment comes in his comic turn as a masochistic dental patient who gets giddy over the prospect of having his teeth pulled!Many fans will be taken by surprise to learn that two early Roger Corman films, Cry Baby Killer and Little Shop of Horrors, feature Jack Nicholson in his first roles. Cry Baby Killer is a schlocky West Side Story-ish tale with a jazzy soundtrack, in which Jimmy Wallace tries to steal his girl, Carol, back from gangster Manny Cole. Jimmy's clumsily na?ve gunfire complicates his situation, involving innocent bystanders. The film succeeds because of its '50s charm, but mainly because of Nicholson's good acting, which he manages despite a lame script. Little Shop of Horrors is a more entertaining, original story about Mushnick's Florist, a flower shop where employee, Seymour, breeds a blood-sucking carnivorous plant that encourages Seymour's increasing murderous dementia. This hilariously bizarre story clearly inspired early John Waters films with its absurd characters, such as a perverted dentist and young Nicholson, who plays the dentist's masochistic patient who craves to get his teeth drilled sans painkillers. Little Shop of Horrors is colorized on this DVD, lending it added campy charm. This Back-To-Back Jack may brag Cry Baby Killer, though the real attractions are the bonus feature and film introductions by The Man himself, Roger Corman. --Trinie Dalton
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